gop senators including roy blunt, tom coburn, susan collins, bob porker, lindsey graham, and rob portman. he'll also dine tonight with 11 republican senators at the jefferson hotel and will travel to capitol hill next week to meet with caucuses in both the house and the senate. so far, the good will is being reciprocated. according to senator lindsey graham, what i see from the president is probably the most encouraging engagement on a big issue since the early days of his presidency. senator majority leader mitch mcconnell is all for daytont. >> frankly, i wish he'd done more of that over the years. we've had, all of us, very limited interaction with the president. he's certainly doesn't have to go through me to call on my members, and i'm sure he will, and i encourage him to do so. >> of course, necessity is usually the grandmother of change. despite several weeks of bully pulpit pressure, even the president acknowledged that his hands are tied unless congress decides to cooperate. >> this idea that somehow there's a secret formula or secret sauce to get speaker boehner or mitch mcconn